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Serious Unauthorized Access Flaw Detected in Ubuntu OpenStack Aodh Watcher

Linuxsecurity •LinuxSecurity Advisories • October 5, 2026

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OpenStack Aodh and Watcher could allow unintended access to network services. Software Description: - aodh: OpenStack Telemetry (Ceilometer) Alarming - watcher: OpenStack Cloud Optimization as a Service Details: Chen YuXiang discovered that OpenStack Aodh did not correctly enforce project scoping in its alarm list API and that the OpenStack Watcher webhook trigger endpoint did not apply authorization. An attacker could possibly use this issue to access sensitive alarm metadata or trigger unauthorized action plans.

OpenStack Aodh and Watcher could allow unintended access to network

Software Description:

- aodh: OpenStack Telemetry (Ceilometer) Alarming

- watcher: OpenStack Cloud Optimization as a Service

Chen YuXiang discovered that OpenStack Aodh did not correctly enforce

project scoping in its alarm list API and that the OpenStack Watcher

webhook trigger endpoint did not apply authorization. An attacker could

possibly use this issue to access sensitive alarm metadata or trigger

unauthorized action plans.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS python3-aodh 1:22.0.0-0ubuntu1.1 python3-watcher 2:16.0.0-0ubuntu1+esm1 Available with Ubuntu Pro Ubuntu 24.04 LTS python3-aodh 1:18.0.0-0ubuntu1.1 python3-watcher 2:12.0.0-0ubuntu1.3+esm1 Available with Ubuntu Pro Ubuntu 22.04 LTS python3-aodh 1:14.1.0-0ubuntu1.1 python3-watcher 2:8.0.0-0ubuntu1.2+esm1 Available with Ubuntu Pro Ubuntu 20.04 LTS python3-aodh 10.0.0-0ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm1 Available with Ubuntu Pro python3-watcher 1:4.0.0-0ubuntu0.20.04.1+esm1 Available with Ubuntu Pro After a standard system update you need to restart aodh and watcher to make all the necessary changes.

Ubuntu Security Notice USN-8870-1

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This article is one source in a clustered incident — the cluster page carries the summary, timeline and every other outlet covering it.

Unauthorized Access Vulnerability in OpenStack Aodh and Watcher A serious vulnerability has been identified in OpenStack Aodh and Watcher, discovered by Chen YuXiang. The flaw allows unauthorized access to sensitive alarm metadata and the ability to trigger unauthorized action plans due to improper project scoping enforcement in the alarm list API and lack of authorization in the webhook trigger endpoint. This affects multiple Ubuntu LTS versions, including 20.04, 22.04, 24.04, and 26.04. Users are advised to update their systems to the specified package versions to mitigate the risk. After applying updates, a restart of the Aodh and Watcher services is required to implement the changes. The vulnerability has not been reported as in the wild. 2 sources 45

Extracted Entities

Serious Unauthorized Access Flaw Detected in Ubuntu OpenStack Aodh Watcher

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Extracted Entities

Attack Types (1)

Companies (1)

CWE Weaknesses (2)

Platforms (2)